The Substitute
by PT Malvik
Summary: Something is wrong with Ron and Kim has to find out what it is before a partnership -- perhaps more -- is lost forever.
1. Chap 1: Fire and Rain

Disclaimer: Kim Possible and friends belong to Disney Corporation. This is written for fun, not profit.  
Rating: PG-13 (for some violence)  
Summary: Something is wrong with Ron and Kim has to find out what it is before a partnership -- perhaps more -- is lost forever.

THE SUBSTITUTE -- Chapter One

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Shego was alone. This wasn't so unusual as to stop Kim from keeping up the fight full force, but something niggled at the back of her mind, even in the middle of a backflip.

_Where is Drakken?_ she couldn't help but wonder, until a hot bolt of energy hitting above her right shoulder made her concentrate fully on the task at hand.

Which was kicking Shego's butt right into the Dark Ages.

Ignoring the sharp burning pain in her wounded shoulder -- pay attention, Kim, pay attention, she berated herself -- Kim took special care when landing a flying kick in Shego's midsection.

A distinctly unladylike sound followed as Shego slammed backwards into a wall. "Oooof!"

"Good one, KP!" Ron's voice, steady and true as the friend himself, was at her back and it made Kim smile, even as Shego rose, glaring.

"Tell your little boyfriend he hasn't seen anything yet."

"Hey, who you calling little?" cried Ron indignantly.

An angry chirp from Rufus completed the thought. "One, he's not my boyfriend," replied Kim smoothly, "and two, what's the matter, Shego? Jealous? I'm thinking you're not exactly inspiring anyone to write 'Friends Forever' in their notebooks with your name next to theirs anytime soon."

"Friendship is overrated," snarled Shego. "I've got all I need right here. By myself."

"Poor you," sighed Kim sarcastically. She fell back into a fighting stance, ready to end the battle. "Time to prove you can go it alone."

"Fine." Shego lunged, but to Kim's surprise, she bypassed her completely. Instead, Shego flipped twice and landed a _crack!_ on Ron with her open hand.

"Argh!" Ron yelled, clutching the back of his neck. A glazed look, and he fell forward in a dead faint.

Kim's temper flared hotly. "That is _so_ it, Shego."

But Shego merely smiled. "Yeah, it so is." With that, she took off, jumping through an open window and into the night..

Kim stared after her, opened-mouthed. This wasn't anything she'd expected from Shego, who had a habit of fighting until the bitter end. Still pondering, Kim knelt by Ron's side, rubbing his back absentmindedly. "Hey, wake up, Ron. It's over."

One groggy eye opened. "It is? Did we win?"

"Don't we always?" Kim replied kindly. She helped him into a sitting position and brushed a bit of dust from his hair. "What say we hit Bueno Nacho for a late one, you and me?"

Ron blinked. "I'm dying, aren't I? Because you never suggest we go to Bueno Nacho unless I'm at death's door or _was_ at death's door or am _going_ to be at death's door ..."

Kim sighed. "You're not at death's door, Ron. I'm hungry, okay? Can't I be hungry after running around all day and fighting all night?"

"Oh." Ron brightened considerably. "Would you mind then if I ordered a Super Onion Bueno Nordita?" He held up his hands. "I know, I know, we had some ... problems after the last one, but this time I'm ready." He pulled a small pink bottle out of his pants pocket. "Pepto Bismol, KP. The Mexican food lover's friend."

Her nose wrinkled involuntarily. "Does that stuff really work?"

Ron leaned in close, his warm breath tickling her ear. "Do we always win?" he whispered.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. We always do."

"Then what are we waiting for?" he said, jumping to his feet and pulling her with him. He whistled for Rufus. "Come on, pal. There are cooks who're going to be crying onion tears tonight."

Rufus made a noncommittal sound.

"Oh, stop complaining. I brought some Tums for you."

A squeak that sounded suspiciously like a "yay!" and they were off and running, ready for a late night snack, that niggling worry in Kim's brain all but forgotten.

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Eight o'three and Kim jumped out of bed with a shriek. "Ohmygod, I'm late!"

Forty-five seconds later she bounded into the kitchen, haphazardly dressed, hair askew. A quick slurp of tea, a snatched bite of toast, a kiss for her parents and she was out the door running.

"The bus or my new skateboard?" she wondered aloud breathlessly, knowing the answer already. "Since the bus is probably long gone ..." Smiling, she hit a button on her belt, the little blue one disguised as a polka dot.

The "skateboard" zoomed out from the garage and idled at her feet. "Oh, yeah. Much better than the bus." Kim hopped aboard, enjoying the rush of wind through her unruly mane and the rumble of energy beneath her feet.

Eight-sixteen and she arrived early, with enough time to spare to comb out her hair and apply a little bit of color to her cheeks in the girl's room. She wasn't a big fan of makeup (a disastrous encounter with runny mascara during a battle ruined most of her enthusiasm for it), but on a bad morning, a little blush and lip gloss never hurt anyone.

Feeling refreshed, she went to her locker, taking special care to lock the flyboard and its controls far in the back. One last adjustment to her backpack and ...

"Oh, hey, Ron. Come here."

The familiar figure ambled over toward her. Strangely, he looked pale and worn out, not the chipper Ron she was used to seeing, even at the early hours of the morning. "What do you want, Kim?"

Sharply said, and Kim was taken aback at his tone. "Um ... nothing. Just wanted to say hi. Good morning and all that stuff."

"Yeah, it's a great morning. Now if you'll excuse me ..." Ron turned away and continued down the hall, his shoulders slumped.

Kim blinked, then jogged after him. "Ron, are you all right? I told you that one of those Norditas so late was bad enough, but two ..."

Ron whirled around to face her. The vehemence in his face shocked Kim. "It's not the Norditas, it's not the late nights, it's _you_, Kim. Now if you'll just move aside and ..."

Her mouth fell open. "What?"

"Leave me the hell alone, I might be able to get through this day without kicking something," Ron said, his eyes narrow and darkening. "Or killing something."

A terrified chitter and Rufus fled his pocket, taking up trembling residence in Kim's bag. She grabbed a hold of Ron's arm, ignoring his attempts to shake her off. "What is wrong with you, Ron? Why are you being like this?"

Viciously, he pulled away, his mouth set in a hard line. "Acting like what, Kim? Like someone who is a little sick of being a second class citizen around here? Someone who keeps getting his teeth kicked in for no good reason while you sit around and laugh at me? Someone who takes lump after lump with no appreciation at all, is that what I'm acting like? Huh?"

"Ron," she said, and swallowed hard past a lump in her throat. "You're not making any sense."

"Whatever. So long, Kim. You have a nice life, for however long that is." Hands stuffed in his pockets, Ron stalked away, shouldering other surprised students out of his way.

Kim gaped after him, not bothering to wipe away a stray tear that slipped down her cheek. She usually prided herself on keeping her emotions in check, but Ron ... suddenly hating her for no reason at all ...

"Rufus," she said, gently pulling the tiny rodent out from her backpack. "Has Ron been acting like this all morning?"

Rufus nodded mournfully.

"There's something wrong here, something seriously wrong." She shook her head. Placing Rufus carefully back in her bag, she pulled out her Kimmunicator.

Wade's image buzzed to life. "What's up, Kim?"

"Wade, we need to talk. About Ron."

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Ron's chest felt weighted, with an anger he couldn't name. Everything seemed to irritate him, even as he cringed inwardly at his own actions. No matter what he did or said, nothing seemed to relieve the burden inside, or the shame of taking it out on his friends.

For the first time, he cut out of class and headed toward the playground on the other side of school. Maybe some fresh air and sunlight would straighten his head out.

Resisting the urge to kick whatever was in his path, Ron came to the swings and sat there forlornly, the chains creaking at his side.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he feeling this way, and worse, why was he treating Kim and Rufus so horribly? He stared at the ground trying to figure out the answer when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Feeling blue?"

Ron's head snapped up. "Shego?"

"I'm sorry to see you're in such a funk," she purred, looking sallow and out of place in the sunlight, her dark hair setting off her olive complexion to a green extreme. "Honestly, I don't know what took you so long to figure out that she's no good for you. That you have greater things to accomplish. It's about time you shoved her aside."

Ron blinked. "How did you know ... I ..." Understanding dawned then. "Wait a minute. When you hit me last night ..."

Shego smiled thinly. "You received a small nano-implant injection at the base of your neck, courtesy of myself and the late Dr. Drakken."

"The late?" Ron gaped. "My neck? Implant ... what the ..."

"More later," Shego snapped. She smiled again, the same death's head smile. "But for now, I think I'll see what this baby really can do."

A quick pressed to a control on her wrist, a short burst of energy and Ron found himself writhing on the gravel, a mindless rage gnawing at his insides. "Auuuugh!"

Shego knelt beside him, petting his hair. "How do you feel, new partner of mine?"

"No! Not ... your ... partner ..."

"Oh, yes," she laughed. "It's you and me against the world." An evil pause. "And Kim Possible."

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tbc ...


	2. Chap 2: Landslide

Disclaimer: Kim Possible and friends belong to Disney Corporation. This is written for fun, not profit.  
Rating: PG-13 (for some violence)  
Summary: Something is wrong with Ron and Kim has to find out what it is before a partnership -- perhaps more -- is lost forever.

THE SUBSTITUTE -- Chapter Two

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To Kim's surprise, Wade had no answers later that evening, and probably wouldn't unless she could get Ron to stand still for a scan. "Not likely, Wade," she told him. "I don't think he's in the mood to let me give him the once over, no matter how important it is."

"Bummer. I'll keep trying from this end. Be careful, Kim. With Ron this out of it, who knows what could happen." With that, Wade signed off.

Sighing, she threw herself back on her bed, studying the ceiling. "Yeah. Who knows?"

Her mother's voice echoed up the stairs. "Kimmie! Dinner time."

"Coming, Mom." Not being in the mood to eat wasn't an excuse to be absent from the dinner table in the Possible household. When she reached the stairs, a pair of stomping feet were heard and the tweebs ran past her, shoving each other playfully all the way to the dining room.

The smell of meatloaf filled the air and Kim fought the urge to bury her face in her hands. Could the day get any worse?

"Would you like the end, Kim?" her mother asked solicitously, once they were all seated. "It's your favorite part."

_That's because it's the smallest_, Kim thought, but said nothing. She held her plate out, not even caring when a huge pile of brussel sprout casserole was plopped next to the meatloaf. Setting the plate down, she began to wish they had a dog. A big, hungry dog who liked to sit under the table and eat anything Kim threw him.

Anything and everything.

"How was your day, sweetheart?" her father asked. He also seemed perturbed at the presence of brussel sprout casserole but manfully covered it up. "Anything interesting happen?"

Kim debated telling her parents about Ron, but decided against it. Too many questions would follow, questions she couldn't answer and she was in no mood for the inevitable annoying commentary from her brothers. "Not really. How was your day?"

Her mother glanced suspiciously at her. Uh-oh, Kim thought. Mistake number one; asking Dad how his day was. Not only out of character for her, but ...

Mr. Possible beamed at her. "I'm glad you asked, Kim. Today we had an amazing test run with the particle accelerator, using a small laser to rearrange the atoms into small streams of gelatinous material that might be black matter _or_ a new flavor of Jell-O. Why, you should have seen the different colors we were able to produce. Although, I must wonder that if it were black matter, wouldn't it be black? According to Stephen Hawking's latest research ..."

"Nice work, sis," Tim hissed at her.

Jim rolled his eyes. "Why don't you ask him how his whole _week_ went?"

"Please shut up, guys," Kim asked tiredly, as her father continued in the background. "I really mean it. Please."

Her mother's eyes narrowed. Ooops. Mistake number two. Saying "please" to the tweebs. Kim took a huge bite of meatloaf, hoping to distract her. "Mmmmmm," she enthused. "Delicious, Mom! Your best ever."

But Mrs. Possible wasn't falling for it. "Uh-huh," she replied slowly. "Kimmie, are you _sure_ nothing happened today?"

Gulping, Kim shook her head. "Nope. Nada. Zilch and zippo."

"... of course, I don't believe in wormholes that don't get you to other places in the universe. What fun would those be? No, I like me a good old fashioned wormhole that you can cross time and space in, landing, oh, I don't know, back in the fifteen-hundreds, when there were plagues and all that cool stuff," Mr. Possible rambled on. He thought for a moment. "Not that plagues were all that cool, but ..."

"Let's talk after dinner," Mrs. Possible said to Kim, in her "there's no getting out of it" voice. She turned toward her husband. "And as for plagues, dear, they weren't any fun at all."

Mr. Possible looked abashed and turned back to his meatloaf. "You're right, of course, dear."

Mrs. Possible smiled. "Now everyone eat up and remember, for dessert we have coconut sorbet!"

Four faces fell, before a weak cheer rose. "Yay."

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The dinner dishes slowly stacked up as Kim concentrated on drying them. They had a dishwasher but for some reason her mother insisted they do them by hand -- together.

Her mother began to scrub the meatloaf pan. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong, Kim?"

Feigning innocence, Kim shrugged. "Who said there's anything wrong?"

"I wouldn't be much of a mother if I couldn't tell when my daughter is hiding something. So, who is it you're having trouble with now? The girls on the cheerleading squad? One of your teachers? The latest villain or ..."

Oh, what was the use? She might as well spill. "It's Ron," Kim admitted. "I'm having trouble with Ron."

Her mother's voice grew quiet. "Ron? That's a surprise. I don't remember you two having a serious argument since first grade. But that _was_ over your favorite pair of shoes. Or was it a dress? Or your doll's dress? I can't quite remember ..."

"Mom, Ron was fine last night. We did our homework in the afternoon, fought Shego, had a Nordita and went to bed. This morning, he's doing this angry young man routine and I don't get it. He said he hates everyone and blames me for everything that's wrong in his life. He was so mean, it's like he became someone else overnight."

"Oh." Mrs. Possible started to wash the dessert plates, her expression thoughtful.

"Wade and I tried to figure it out but we came up with nothing. And he hasn't called once, not even for Rufus. I'm worried, Mom. This just isn't like him."

"It doesn't sound like the Ron we know, but have you considered, honey, that ... well ..."

"What?"

"That Ron might be growing up a bit, perhaps in a way that you're not happy with? People grow apart, Kimmie. Especially young men and women who've been friends since childhood. Maybe Ron wants to set himself apart and since you're such a strong, capable girl, maybe you bring out some form of insecurity in him as he grows older and closer to adulthood."

"Wait a minute, Mom," said Kim incredulously. "Are you saying that Ron's acting like this because he's jealous of my abilities?" She shook her head. "Mom, this is Ron we're talking about. He doesn't have a jealous bone in his body." She paused. "Well, not a lot of them."

"I don't mean jealous exactly. I'm only saying that Ron wouldn't be the first man to feel threatened by a strong woman, Kimmie. Which is what you're rapidly turning into." She placed a gentle kiss on her daughter's brow. "I know it's hard to think such a thing about your best friend, but people change, honey. And sometimes not for the better."

Shaking her head, Kim replied, "No, Mom. I don't think it's that at all. I think something's happened to Ron and I'm going to find out what it is. However long it takes, whether Ron wants me to or not."

Mrs. Possible sighed deeply. "I hope you're right, dear. But don't be surprised if you're not."

Kim tossed down the dishtowel. "I don't plan on being surprised. I'm going to find out what's wrong with Ron and you'll see. Whatever it is, I know it's not his fault."

Nodding, her mother put the last dish on the "dry" pile. "He has a good friend in you, Kim. Here's hoping he's as good a one to you."

"The best, Mom," Kim replied determinedly. "The very best."

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Unfortunately, Kim's theory about Ron almost completely fell apart less than ten minutes later, when Wade beeped her. "Hey, Kim."

"What's the sitch?" she replied automatically, reaching for her "work" clothes, a black cutoff and loose black jeans.

"You won't believe this. There's a robbery going down at the Bueno Nacho, right now."

Kim paused mid-dress. "Right now? As in this very moment in time?"

"Yep," Wade replied, taking a sip of soda. "But that's not the weirdest part. I got a e-mail _telling_ me it was going on. Sure enough, I hack into their security cameras and there it is, already in progress."

"Okay, that's weird." A quick clip of her belt and she was ready. "But, ready or not, here I come."

"Be careful, Kim, there's ..."

Biting her lip, she flipped the Kimmunicator shut. Wade was being too worrisome for her liking and without Ron by her side, she needed all the confidence she could muster. "Jeez, I hate being alone like this," she said to no one in particular until an indignant chitter interrupted her.

It was Rufus, mole hands on mole hips, looking quite offended.

Kim laughed lightly. "Sorry, Rufus. How could I forget you?" She opened up a flap on her belt motioning for him to jump inside. "Come on. I'll need the backup."

"All right!" was the squeaking reply.

A short hop onto her new flyboard and the flashing Bueno Nacho sign came into view minutes later. Kim landed lightly on the roof near the skylight. It was bright inside, filled with what appeared to be trembling customers and employees, as well as two armed robbers, dressed in head-to-toe black, ski masks and all.

Kim's face twisted with annoyance. She hated all criminals, but petty ones were the worst. At least supervillains had a little ambition to show for all their evil deeds.

This was just _lame_.

She took out a glass cutter and silently made a hole in the skylight. Taking a deep breath, she plunged down into the middle of the store, making sure to keep a hand over Rufus, lest he fall.

The landing was light, but noisy enough to make the two thieves whirl around to face her. "This taco's _not_ for you," Kim mocked, moving into a fighting stance.

"Oh, but I think it is," replied one of the thieves, smiling before removing his ski mask.

Kim gasped. "But ... you ... no ..."

"Eloquent as always, KP," sneered Ron Stoppable, before pulling out what appeared to be a very elaborate gun and aiming it straight for her heart.

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tbc ...


End file.
